Cuttlefish bone/ sepia officinalis (kafe dariya): recovery of long forgotten Unani drug

A cuttlefish bone is not a bone, but the internal shell of the Cuttlefish/ sepia officinalis, a small, squid-like cephalopod of phylum molusca, an animals of the order Sepiida. Cuttlefish bone comprises up to 90 percent of its content of calcium carbonate with the abundance of different bioinorganic elements such as magnesium, strontium, iron, even trace amounts of copper, zinc, aragonite and β-chitin which makes it extremely valuable and worthwhile to be used for biomedical research. Unani system of medicine has been using cuttlefish bone under the name of ‘kafe dariya’ for the treatment various disorders and ailments since centuries. Unani scholars were well aware of the valuable medical and cosmetologically aspect of cuttlefish bone. However, the drug has been forgotten for its beneficial effect and went deep away from the scientific researches. The purpose of the present review is to highlight and revive the data on cuttlefish and cuttlefish bone for its morphology, composition, types, pharmacological actions, temperament, therapeutic dosage, contraindications, correctives, alternatives and therapeutic uses with special reference of Unani medicine to attain its the beneficial features in biomedical sciences.